Project: Sponge Splash Ball

I had a TON of fun making these quick and easy splash balls from sponges!

I bought the smaller size sponges in bright colors. I used 8 sponges to make 3 splash balls. 

Step 1: Gather your supplies! 

2. Cut into strips, I did 1 inch strips. 

3. Separate into even piles, I did eight strips per splash ball. 

4. Then grab a zip tie for every splash ball. 

(I used the handy tool kit my dad bought when I got my first apartment, thanks Dad!)

(The next part was difficult to take pictures of when I was putting the finishing touches to the splash balls)

5. I gathered the strips and arranged the strips so that they looked good together then used the zip tie to bind it all. The zip tie was placed in the middle and I tightened it as tight as I could get it. Then clipped the tail.

Voila!

Project: Garden Art to Little Girl's Chair

Ben's parents were cleaning out the garage and put this on the side of the road to get rid of. It was meant to go in Ben's mom's garden but she decided it was in too bad of shape to use.

I stared at the chair for a few hours trying to think of a reason to snag it. Ben came home and was SO EXCITED to see it on the road. He grabbed it and told me of his great plans to change it into a chair for Addison's 2nd birthday. 

Here is the chair when we got it, minus a few spiders webs we got off before the picture was taken. (Your welcome!)

The paint was very uneven and chipping terribly.

The seat was stained, broken and a chip in the corner. The seat was made from terrible wood, not fit for a little girl. 

Here is a look from the top. You can see the terrible shape the seat was in. 

Ben threw the seat chair away and began master plans to create a new one. 

Before Ben could spray paint the chair a fun color fit for a energetic girl he had to sand the chair.

Ben sanded the chair then sanded it using finer sand paper to really even out the chair. 

Here is what the chair looked like after Ben and I tag-teamed sanding.

It was not perfect, but it was close!

Ben made a new seat and sanded that down well too so little fingers didn't get a splinter.

Then life got busy, we moved, Ben started working 12 hours a day, Alyssa's wedding preparations kept us extra busy and we did not work on the chair for a few weeks.

Days before Addison's birthday Ben took the chair out and painted it a color as bright as Addie's personality!

Sunshine yellow!!!! 

Look at how beautiful it looks now!

 Then Ben asked his assistant (ME!) to help him with the more detailed oriented part of his project.

Ben wanted an A on the back of the chair in white trimmed in pink.

He choose this font, something with straight lines and childlike.

Here is the closeup.

Not my best work... but Ben decided the morning of her party he wanted to add it.

From a distance, it looks great!

Here is the final shot of the chair! 

What an improvement and so fun for a growing girl!

Uncle Ben was so proud of his project and I was so excited to share his project with all of you!

Babies, Birthdays and Battles

BABIES


I have had the most wonderful opportunity to babysit for my best friend's little girls throughout the summer. After missing so much of their lives I treasured every moment with them. Now as I start my new job I will not be able to spend as much time with them as I have been so the last few weeks have been especially special. 

Baby Erin playing her newest game, "Peek a Boo"

She makes the FUNNIEST faces!! I was excited to catch this one on camera!

Addison LOVES to color!
And this particular day she was nakey... 

There is nothing better than some cute girls in just their diapers!

Beautiful BIG girl!

BIRTHDAYS

We celebrated three special birthdays in the last two months, cousins Jeremiah and Lydia and Addison. 

I did not take any pictures of Jeremiah and Lydia's joint birthday party (forgot my camera..) but I did take pictures of their birthday present!

I made splash balls out of sponges!

I put the splash balls in a big orange bucket to inspire them to create their own games to keep cool during the summer!

In their thank you cards they said they did just that! 

A joint gift perfect for summer fun!

Addison turned TWO!

I will never forget the first time I heard her cry shortly after she was born!

Tears filled my eyes as I listened to proud papa, Eric, sharing the grand news of her birth!

Now two years later we celebrated the gift God has given us, Addison!

Lauren planned a dog themed party, Addison's favorite animal!

WOOF!

Lauren made these ADORABLE cupcakes! 

The birthday girl enjoying her special treat. 

Uncle Ben had some quiet time with Erin. She partied too hard so took a nap on Uncle Ben in a quiet room!

I took on a craft project for Addison's first birthday so Uncle Ben got to do one for her second!

Uncle Ben sanded and repainted this little chair. He made a new seat for it and put tennis balls on the bottom so Addison didn't scratch their hardwood floors. 

This picture may not show it, but Addison loves her chair and uses it all the time.

She does what I call "Talk Shows with Addison" where she sits in the chair and chats with whoever is closest to her or to her stuff animals. 

(Look for pictures of the chair project tomorrow!)

BATTLES

At 23 (almost 24) years old my childhood officially ended this summer with the final movie release of Harry Potter. For the last few movies it is tradition to see the movie in theaters with my in-laws. This movie was no different!

I donned my Voldemore shirt, wand, I love Hungarian Horntails pin and enjoyed the last movie and final battle scenes. The movie was incredible and the battle scenes were breathtaking!! Goodbye childhood and goodbye Harry Potter!

Big Girl Job Orientation

Hello everyone and thanks for bearing with us while we adjust to our new lives.


I am currently sitting in my hotel room where I will be spending the next few nights. I am in Detroit, MI for orientation for my new job.


I get unlimited internet (something we don't have at home) so I hope to spent my free moments working on as many blog entries as I can so entertain you all! 


I have lots to catch up on..


Parent's visit
Our apartment, what it looks like now
Projects we have been working on
Delicious food we have been making
Sister-in-law's wedding


And other fun random topics!
So stay tuned... 


My blogcation is officially over and I'm ready to boogey! :)

Guess who got a big girl job?

I DID!

Many of you may already know this but just in case..


I got a JOB!


I never thought I'd be in the position where I wasn't teaching in a school after graduation. I have watched as my friends have been getting jobs and I kept praying my time was around the corner. It was not to be.


Grand Rapids is not hiring too many teachers so my search went beyond the typical teaching positions that you think of and I applied to Champions. 


According to the site Champions offers innovative before and after school extended day programs. Options for kids include five mind-expanding activity areas and a quiet area that enables students to read and complete homework. 


On a whim I applied and within a week I had a phone interview and two weeks later a face to face interview. A week later I was offered a position and a week after that a promotion that included a $2.50 pay raise and more hours! 


I will be the Site Director at a school in Wyoming, MI which is twenty minutes from our apartment. I will be teaching Kindergarten and directing the before and after school program. I will be managing the teachers and teacher's assistants. 


It is not the teaching job I imagined having but it is a start! I will be working with the Principal, School Board and parents so that is getting my foot in the door! 


I attend training in Westland, MI (near Detroit) in nine days and began work after Labor Day!

Counting my blessings at this wonderful time in my life! GOD IS GOOD!

Quick Update

My little blogcation will continue for a bit longer...


I have SO many fun recipes and projects to share with you in addition to some posts about the other things we have been up to but for now here is a quick update.


My parents came to visit this week! We didn't do much of anything and it was perfect! It was truly a time to catch up a bit and relax. We did visit the farm, DeRuischers and Hanninks along with some special stops to get cold treats (blizzards, shakes, etc). 


Tonight Ben's second cousin, Lindsay, is coming into town and then we are all spending the weekend together at the cottage (and part of the week). I have not seen Lindsay in a year and a half so I am SO excited!


I got a job! I'm not too sure on all the details yet but I will be working with children; either a before and after school program or teaching Kindergarten in the afternoon in Wyoming, MI with the same organization. Time well tell where I will end up. I am still looking for somewhere to work during the weekends and I have an interview today. Wish me luck!


Ben is looking for another job and has some prospectives. His farm job will be done soon so he is getting a jump start on looking for something else. Ben is also volunteering at a farm at the Blandford Nature Center. He keeps very busy! 


Well that is a quick update! I"ll work on blog posts this week! Stay tuned! :)

8-6-11

Congratulations Bill and Alyssa!!!

My sister-in-law tied the knot this weekend in a beautiful ceremony on Saturday. It poured during the ceremony and in the picture following the ceremony but the weather turned sunny and beautiful as the day wore on! Just in time for pictures outside!


I don't have any picture from the wedding but I'll try to track down some to share with you!


With all the wedding festivities this week I have not been able to do much of anything and my parents are coming to visit TODAY! So with those things in mind I am likely taking a bit of a vacation from the blog so I can focus on family and catching up on a few things here at home! :)


Have a great week!

Our First Weekend Guests

Ben's family came back from California on Wednesday evening. We spent the first night in our apartment that Wednesday, July 20th. Then came the HOTTEST week of the summer!! It was incredibly miserable and very little unpacking occured. Instead Ben and I spent many evenings sleeping, and slept for about 12 hours a night for a few days... it was just TOO hot to do ANYTHING!


Then Friday came around and the weather got a little cooler, which was perfect timing for our first guests..


JUSTIN AND TIA!

The sign that welcomed them to our apartment!

Ben and I came up with a menu a few days before and I created a MENU for Casa de Hannink for Tia and Justin and refer to throughout the weekend. This stuck on the fridge and they got a kick out of it. 

The Menu

I was texting my brother while we were at IKEA and he told us to buy him something. He didn't think we would take him seriously but we did! We bought two flexible cutting boards for Justin's fish and the chips him and Tia make. Tia got a bamboo and vase for our apartment!

A trip to visit us is not complete without a trip to Ben's farm!

Everyone peering into the creamery, where all the milk is transferred right after milking. 

Ben teaching Justin and Tia about the cow milking process. 

Justin looks very interested!

Ben tricked Justin into eating a grape that was not quite ripe yet.

Justin said it was SUPER hard but still tasted yummy!

Meet Hillary!

She is my favorite farm cat and apparently also alpha cat.

Hillary hangs out with me when I visit, especially when I am weeding. 

Checking out the garden.

The cows get taken to another chunk of land each day but a few of the soon-to-be-mommies stuck around the farm because they can't keep up with the rest of the herd anymore.

It was my first time seeing these cows up close.

I felt terrible for these "ready to pop" moms because the flies were bugging them really bad!

Justin and Ben hung out in the pig pen. The pigs loved Justin and kept following him.

Justin must have smelled quite yummy....

"Here Piggy Piggy!"

"oink oink oink"

The Pig Whisperer

It was quite toasty at the farm so we came back to the apartment for a cool treat.

Ben and I love to make popsicles in the summer with whatever we have around.

This time we made popsicles the easy way - with pink lemonade kool-aid!

After cooling down a bit, we went for a walk to Downtown to visit a few fun places and for dinner.

We visited the Calder, a popular place to visit. Read about it here.

Ben enjoying the sights!

Justin.... was feeling quite toasty...

And Ben does what Ben does when he gets near something he can climb...

And Justin did the same!

It was beautiful out when we started walking and got INCREDIBLY hot as the evening wore on. We took some extra time to cool down and had a mini-photo shoot!

Love.

In true Ben and Justin style

Such handsome men!

And of course beautiful women! :)

Prom pose!

Ben pinched my butt... haha

True Love.

This photo and the next few define Justin and Tia's relationship!

Now that is a nice one!

Prom pose!

We had a fun day!

Then we visited the BIG TIRE SWING right behind the calder.

I put down my camera so we could have some fun on the swing.

The boys pushed us FAST and REALLY high! So fun!

Then we walked to a local restaurant, Big O's. They have some local and organic ingredients so we wanted to check it out. Ben delivers bread there every week!

We got a super tasty pizza and cheese filled breadsticks.

But before our food came Justin, Ben and Tia tried the green hot sauce. (You can see a bit of it in the bottom right corner)

Ben and Justin freaked out at the taste and Tia didn't! 

This photo is Justin after having a second taste!

On Sunday we went to church and came home for lunch.

We hung out here for a bit and separated a bit.

Tia and I hung out upstairs and the boys did a super secret project.

But more on that later...

It was so nice getting to spend some time with Justin and Tia and we look forward to Tia moving down for college in one month. She goes to a college 45 minutes away and we are expecting to see her lots!